1) High-end properties resorting to posh gimmicks (fashion shows, art exhibits, book signings, etc.) to attract brokers and buyers is nothing new, but in a slightly low-brow affair indicative of the times, a few Upper East Side developments recently held a bus tour for brokers. And when they got to Georgica, the sales director started singing Sinatra, changing the lyrics to be about the building, of course. Yikes. ['Getting Inventive to Seduce Buyers']
2) More UES high-end real estate woes. The pair of Andy Warhol townhouses—the big one on 66th Street owned by Tom Freston (on the left in that pic) and the smaller affair on Lexington Avenue where Warhol lived with his mom (on the right)—are still unsold and fresh off some run-ins with the Chopper. The Freston house also appears to have been pulled off the market. [Big Deal/''Way Beyond 15 Minutes']
3) This week's Hunt is a Bed-Stuy gentrification special, with a young East Villager looking for a multi-family brownstone to live in and rent out to like-minded artsy tenants. His $650,000-$850,000 price range yields months of crap, but he finally snags a three-family on MacDonough Street for just over $700,000 after a price slash. [The Hunt/'A Goldilocks House']
4) The old Bay Ridge church that will soon be demolished to make way for condos and a smaller church building had a time capsule placed in its cornerstone in 1899. The copper box contains a Bible, photographs, lists of church committee members and other historical trinkets. The church will ask the demolition company to look for it, maybe. [The City/'At a Church With No Future, a Memento of the Past']
